The present invention relates to surgical instruments and, in various embodiments, to surgical instruments configured to cut, fasten and/or seal tissue that employ axially moving actuation drive members.
Various forms of surgical instruments exist for cutting and fastening tissue. One form of such an instrument comprises a stapling instrument that includes a pair of cooperating elongate jaw members, wherein each jaw member can be adapted to be inserted into a patient and positioned relative to tissue that is to be stapled and/or incised. In various embodiments, one of the jaw members can support a staple cartridge with at least two laterally spaced rows of staples contained therein, and the other jaw member can support an anvil with staple-forming pockets aligned with the rows of staples in the staple cartridge. Generally, the stapling instrument can further include a pusher bar and an axially movable knife blade which are slidable relative to the jaw members to sequentially eject the staples from the staple cartridge via camming surfaces on the pusher bar and/or camming surfaces on a wedge sled that is pushed by the pusher bar. In at least one embodiment, the camming surfaces can be configured to activate a plurality of staple drivers carried by the cartridge and associated with the staples in order to push the staples against the anvil and form laterally spaced rows of deformed staples in the tissue gripped between the jaw members. In at least one embodiment, the knife blade can trail the camming surfaces and cut the tissue along a line between the staple rows. Examples of such stapling instruments are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,794,475, entitled SURGICAL STAPLES HAVING COMPRESSIBLE OR CRUSHABLE MEMBERS FOR SECURING TISSUE THEREIN AND STAPLING INSTRUMENTS FOR DEPLOYING THE SAME, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Other forms of surgical instruments employ an axially movable cutting member to cut through tissue and then employ energy to seal and/or coagulate the tissue. For example, ultrasonic surgical instruments, including both hollow core and solid core instruments, are used for the safe and effective treatment of many medical conditions. Ultrasonic surgical instruments, and particularly solid core ultrasonic surgical instruments, are advantageous because they may be used to cut and/or coagulate tissue using energy in the form of mechanical vibrations transmitted to a surgical end effector at ultrasonic frequencies. Ultrasonic vibrations, when transmitted to tissue at suitable energy levels and using a suitable end effector, may be used to cut, dissect, coagulate, elevate or separate tissue. Ultrasonic surgical instruments utilizing solid core technology are particularly advantageous because of the amount of ultrasonic energy that may be transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer, through an ultrasonic transmission waveguide, to the surgical end effector. Such instruments may be used for open procedures or minimally invasive procedures, such as endoscopic or laparoscopic procedures, wherein the end effector is passed through a trocar to reach the surgical site.
Activating or exciting the end effector (e.g., cutting blade, ball coagulator) of such instruments at ultrasonic frequencies induces longitudinal vibratory movement that generates localized heat within adjacent tissue, facilitating both cutting and coagulating. Because of the nature of ultrasonic surgical instruments, a particular ultrasonically actuated end effector may be designed to perform numerous functions, including, for example, cutting and coagulating. The following references which are each hereby incorporated by reference herein in their respective entireties disclose various forms of such surgical instruments and systems:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,685,020, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS AND END EFFECTORS THEREFOR;
U.S. Pat. No. 8,702,704, entitled ELECTROSURGICAL CUTTING AND SEALING INSTRUMENT;
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0184946 A1, entitled ERGONOMIC SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS;
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2014/0194914 A1, entitled SURGICAL CUTTING AND SEALING INSTRUMENT WITH REDUCED FIRING FORCE.
The foregoing discussion is intended only to illustrate various aspects of the related art in the field of the invention at the time, and should not be taken as a disavowal of claim scope.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate certain embodiments of the invention, in one form, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.